Well, it’s getting on time for the annual sports extravaganza that is March Madness. So what in the world does this have to do with a horse racing blog? What follows is my somewhat poor attempt to connect to the two items, followed by some gratuitous bracket selections. Yours truly is nothing if not somewhat OCD when he focuses on something and figured “what the hey, I’ll share my picks.”
I started filling out my bracket today and got to thinking that the whole process of “picking winners” in the NCAA tournament is eerily similar to making handicapping selections in thoroughbred racing. Coming up with your “final four” selections is not much different from making an official Kentucky Derby selection. No matter who you pick, someone will think you’re an idiot. Yet to me it’s a right of passage to fill out a tournament bracket- a time honored tradition as revered as the best 2 minutes in sports the first Saturday in May. I know it’s hard sometimes for us horseplayers to focus on other sports, but events like this invite participation.
If you stop and think about it, when you sit down to fill out your bracket, you’ve got everything you’d look for in a horse race. Class can be equated to what conference a school played in, and how difficult their out-of-conference (OOC) schedule was. Pedigree can be a combination of the team’s athletic skill and it’s collective NCAA tournament experience. The coach can be seen as the trainer. Each team has it’s own playing style/tempo it prefers. It all sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Even more familiar was the fact the my selections (surprise, surprise) came out rather chalky as I filled out the card. In fact, they look rather like my Pick 4 and Pick 6 tickets. Would you believe I couldn’t get rid of any of the chalk? I’ve got all 4 going to the final 4. I know that can’t be right, but here’s my thoughts:
East:
How do you pick against UNC? Not only are they the top overall seed in the tournament, but they get to play in Charlotte! The obvious choices to challenge them with are Tennessee and Louisville, and I thought for a while of using one of them. I do like the Tennessee squad and think they may have a shot to get past UNC if anyone does. Saint Joseph’s was my early upset squad and I thought they’d play a good one with Louisville in the 2nd round. The George Mason/Notre Dame game is another trap one. I took George Mason thinking they may still have some tournament magic left in them.
Midwest:
I took Kansas all the way here as well. I think Clemson could give them a tough game in the sweet 16. I see Wisconsin and Georgetown getting into a showdown in the sweet 16 as well. I could see Wisconsin pulling the upset in this bracket, but I stuck with Kansas for my official pick. Davidson over Gonzaga was really my only notable upset pick in this corner.
South:
I really like Memphis even though a lot of folks think they are a very vulnerable #1 seed. I took them to get past Michigan St. in the sweet 16. I took Texas over Marquette in the bottom half of the bracket in the sweet 16, but I have to be honest and admit that the Marquette/Kentucky game already gives me heartburn. That just feels like a game that could knock out a sweet 16 team for me in the first round. My upset of the bracket was Saint Mary’s over Miami.
West:
I wound up with UCLA here (they’re my pick to win it all), but I do have them meeting the #3 seed Xavier in the elite 8. I went a little crazy here and picked W. Virginia to get past Duke in the sweet 16. I’ve got Xavier then beating W. Virginia to advance to the elite 8. I just think Xavier could be a very dangerous team in the tournament. In fact, I’d pick them to beat Duke even if I had Duke advancing past W.Virginia.
Final Four:
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North Carolina over Kansas
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UCLA over Memphis
I think the trend is to pick Kansas over UNC, but I think the Tarheels will represent the ACC well this year and make a run at the title. UCLA over Memphis was a much easier pick to make. I took the Bruins as my champion when they cut down the nets.
So there you have it. I know I can’t be the only one participating in a tournament pool. Anyone have any opinions about the upcoming games?
Yeah, yeah, but what are their split times???
LMAO – I know….it serves me right that almost no one read this considering it was a blasphemous departure from my normal style.
what does basketball have to do with a horse? are horses playing in this game? are they using a race horses to shoot these hoops? huh huh?
I know even less about b-ball than horse racing. c’mon!
I was just having a mini OCD obsession while filling out my March Madness pool and decided to share. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Don’t you love my pathetic attempt to link the two together?
Hey,
I have started blogging, Will you help me by suggesting something.
umm…..sure – why not. I suggest doing a post which encourages your readers to send their entire life savings to me. In return I will give them the satisfaction of knowing they have pleased me.
see kstaff? rain always said, some subjects attract certain readers… gotta be careful. stay on topic and we’ll be just fine. this post attracted stupidity. (actually wasn’t expecting that but hey, u went off topic!) bet you won’t do that again! basketball, right at the beginning of TC season. How dare!
I trust you charged for your suggestion on what to blog, prior to making your suggestion, yes? gotta take care of the family.
LMAO. Indeed, Diss. My lesson has been duly learned.
kstaff since you like basketball, thought you might like this:
http://extratv.warnerbros.com/images/news/pdfs/shaqoneal.pdf
I found it on extratv channel; it’s the affidavit for shaq’s divorce.
he spends $23,000 per month in gas, $22,000 per month on maid service, $1500 on cable (I’ll bet he can get ALL of the horse racing channels!), $10,065 in electric every month, $3345.00 monthly telephone… it goes on and on. He makes almost $2MILLION every single month.
A MONTH.
Now that’s dissfunktional!
He throws a big orange ball through a hoop that is 10 feet? high for a living and makes more than you, me and all of your readers put together… per month. That’s just nuts!